Called, Put, Filled

Exodus 35:30-35; 36:1

³⁰ And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; ³¹ and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, ³² to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, ³³ in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.

³⁴ “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.

36:1 And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.

Being a worship leader, I'm a very visible component of the local church. The good part is that I have a weekly opportunity to influence a mass amount of people. The bad part is the opportunity to be scrutinized by a mass amount of people. It keeps you humble. :)

The fact that myself, or anyone else on stage, has a public platform on Sundays, doesn't automatically make us the only ones with a special call of God on our life. The church takes all kinds of people to be the church, primarily because the church IS people.....but not just any people.....people called by God.

I just finished studying Exodus this morning and the passage above grabbed my attention. Here we see God calling a couple key people to essentially head up construction of the Temple of God. Normally, when you hear people describing God's call the way it is in this scripture, you strictly think of some sort of clergy in the church. This scripture shows us that when God calls someone, its highly important, even if the calling doesn't include the words pastor, worship leader, teacher, or missionary.

Notice the key elements:

1. Called - We see in the first couple verses that God will call those and fill them with His Spirit. In order to carry out the call, we need to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led.

2. Put - God also puts the ability and desire into the hearts of the called. When our heart is the heart of God, we will seek His kingdom and ministry. It's a heart thing.

3. Filled - When God calls us, He will fill us with the talent and skill to carry out what He's called us to do. If it's for God, it will be of God.

There's greater voice to hear than the voice of the Lord. Click here and be amazed at what the Psalms says about the voice of the Lord. When God calls you to do something, you can do it with confidence, because He will fill you with the skill and put that calling on your heart.

Word Wednesday.::190

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. Sharing Scripture with each other is like iron sharpening iron. Leave a comment and share a scripture that has impacted you this week.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Exodus 31:20 NKJV

"It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed."

Sabbath....keep it. It's God's plan. We all need it.

What's your Word?

Sunday Setlist 03.25.12

-Holy

-Uncreated One

-Jesus Messiah

-Your Grace is Enough

Flow Sheet from Planning Center

Also part of Sunday Setlist.

Love These Commercials

TMNT Remake

Too funny...

Word Wednesday.::189

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. Sharing Scripture with each other is like iron sharpening iron. Leave a comment and share a scripture that has impacted you this week.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Exodus 22:20 NKJV

"He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed."

God doesn't play when it comes to idolatry, ever.

What's your Word?

Sunday Setlist 03.18.12

-Not to Us

-How He Loves

-For the Glory of the Father

-You are My King

Flow Sheet from Planning Center

Also part of Sunday Setlist.

Medical Tattoos

Let the Madness begin...

Here's my bracket backwards.

My final four are Kentucky, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and North Carolina

Finals: Kentucky vs. North Carolina

Champion: Kentucky

Comment and share your picks.

Album Review - The Same Love

The Same Love by Paul Baloche

When I hear the name Paul Baloche, I think two things...

1. I really would love to have lunch with that guy some day.

2. Songs for the local church to sing.

Paul Baloche, to me, is one of the few, high profile worship artists that has kept the focus on the local church. I've heard his songs. I've heard his heart at workshops and conferences. This guy loves the local church, therefore I love this guy.

That being said, I'm thrilled to be able to review his latest album from Integrity Music.

The new album is called The Same Love. Given everything I've just said, this is one of the very few "worship" albums that will come out this year, where I can see every song being used by pretty much any church. That is huge and beautiful.

On this latest release, we are flooded songs of adoration for our Savior. Songs that churches will be able to lift up together, and just in time for Easter.

"King of Heaven" stuck out to me right away. I'm not a country fan, but I loved the use of the banjo in the recording. (I don't think I've ever said that statement before. :) )

Ironically, my favorites were songs previously recorded by other artists, which I usually like Paul's take on them, because of the way he provides a version for most praise bands to pull off. "Loved by You" and "Shout for Joy", which were previously recorded by Lincoln Brewster, are definitely on my radar for my church. "Oh Our Lord", which was previously recorded by All Sons and Daughters, is so far my favorite track on the album. The way he recorded it showed me how great this song would be in a corporate worship setting.

The song that blew my mind was "Your Blood Ran Down". The first time I heard the song, I was not really impressed. The second time, I was blown away. It's an appropriate, beautiful song. It will be interesting to see how it's used in churches.

Last but not least, the title track has a really infectious hook that will not soon leave your head.

You can't go wrong with Paul Baloche. I am a huge fan of his last album, Glorious, and he certainly keeps progressing in writing and style with The Same Love. Get it!

Get this great album today on iTunes.


Here's an amazing concept video for the title track, "The Same Love".

Sunday Setlist 03.11.12

Setlist with iTunes links:
The Earth is Yours

Majesty

Jesus Paid it All

For the Glory of the Father

Flow Sheet from Planning Center

Also part of Sunday Setlist.

Word Wednesday.::187

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. Sharing Scripture with each other is like iron sharpening iron. Leave a comment and share a scripture that has impacted you this week.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Genesis 50:15-21 NKJV

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, ¹⁷ ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.”’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸ Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

¹⁹ Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ²⁰ But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ²¹ Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

"...you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good,"

When we have people in our life that hurt us, for selfish reasons, that's when our faith in God catches us. No matter how much people cause us pain, when God is our rock, our life and purpose cannot be shaken, because when we live for God, we live for His purposes. Like the Psalms says, His ways are higher than our ways. Take heart, because God will use our pain for His good purpose.....so, just like Joseph, we win.


What's your Word?

Sunday Setlist 03.04.12

Setlist with itunes links:
Like a Lion

Holy is the Lord

The Earth is Yours

Sing Sing Sing

Flow Sheet from Planning Center

Also part of Sunday Setlist.

Chore Charts

Well, today marked a new era in the Durbin household. We've had enough of the messes and what-not, so we have implemented chore charts.

We put a lot of thought into it and even had a family meeting to explain the process. Here's how the meeting went:

First, I made them aware that we would no longer be tolerating the messes and what-not, and let them know that things had to change.

Then I explained to them how economics works. We work, we get paid, we buy stuff and give.

Now that they understood the concept of earning money, we introduced the chore charts...

Josh got a Ninja theme and Jade got a flower theme. Josh's chores include keeping his room picked up, bathroom picked up, homework done and stuff cleared out from the living room. Jade's include keeping her room picked up, bathroom picked up, feeding Titan and stuff cleared out from the living room. As they complete each task, they get a star in that particular box on that particular day.

I explained that these were their job offers. We will pay them a modest wage every Friday, if they get a star on every task for every day. Just like the average job, I told them they have until 5pm everyday to complete their tasks.

On the flip side, I had to set up some rules and consequences if they didn't do their job to the fullest. First, I let them know that the pay was either all or nothing. In other words, if they don't get a star on every task for every day, they get paid nothing. Secondly, if I see there are things out of place, I explained that I may very well throw them away, whether it be toys, games, etc.

After I explained everything, I asked them if they wanted the job and they said yes. We sealed the deal with an old fashioned hand shake.

Now, the consequences may seem a little harsh, but until they form a union, I'm banking on them for success. In fact, just as I suspected, Jade tested this only 2 hours after we implemented this.....and I followed through with our agreement...

We'll see how this goes. I'm hoping that we will see some more organization and less mess from the kiddos.....we shall see.